After breakfast I set off relatively quickly because it was raining and I had 60km to Gjerdmundshamn ahead of me. Even rain gear didn’t help, but I wore it anyway. Shoes wet, pants wet at the bottom, shirt and T-shirt wet. At some point it doesn’t matter. But then you really just want to carry on and get to the hotel as quickly as possible. That’s why there are no pictures. I still enjoyed the beautiful landscape as much as I could.

I reached Rosendal and the hotel at around 2pm and got rid of my wet clothes, took a long, warm shower and put on new, dry clothes. At 6:30pm I had something warm to eat, after which I ate my packed lunch again in the waiting shelter at the ferry terminal.

Tomorrow we still have time until 1pm, at 2:25pm our ship leaves for Bergen and at 7:10pm I fly back to Hamburg via Copenhagen.

Not for the rain, which is typically Norwegian at this time of year, I thought about changing the English word weather to wetter. It just fitted better. But instead, an endless number of waterfalls are coming down from the mountains as if water basins were overflowing up there…

After a hearty breakfast, I set off towards Kinsarvik at around nine o’clock. After about three quarters of the way, I had to cycle through a tunnel that led onto the cycle path of a long suspension bridge over the Hardangerfjord. I had a bit of respect for it at first, but in the end it wasn’t half as bad. I arrived in Kinsarvik at around 11.15am. There we realized¹I met a few people from USA that did also that trip that the ferry to Utne had just left and we had to wait an hour, so we had time to eat our packed lunch, which we were allowed to pack in the hotel. And a few sweets that I had bought in the store in Kinsarvik. At 1.15 p.m. we were then able to cross over to Ulvik and at 2.30 p.m. from Ulvik to Kvanndal.

From Kvanndal we continued along the fjord. A total of 40 km to Norheimsund. My battery range was still 50 km… A little short, as there were long climbs from time to time. It was also starting to rain again. But I had taken precautions. The kilometers dragged on, again and again into a bay and Norheimsund was still not to be seen… Maybe in the next… or the next but one? Nope, the first larger village was only Øystesee, from there I went around another mountain into the adjoining bay where Norheimsund was located, which I reached at around 5.30 pm.

I had a day in Ulvik to explore the fjord. So after breakfast I decided to take a short tour to Osa. The Osafjord, an arm of the Hardangerfjord, is very impressive, relatively narrow and with high mountains to the right and left, some 900m high. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos there. My camera was too deep in my rucksack… the path on the way there and back first went uphill for quite a while, which was no problem with assistance, as the battery was now full, and then downhill again. The short trip was definitely worth it. I was back at the hotel around 1pm and chilled out for the rest of the day. And explored Ulvik a bit.
What I do tomorrow depends on the weather. There are several options: you can take the tourist boat directly to Norheim, or go to Norheim in several stages, partly by ferry and partly on shorter tours. The weather is typically rainy from time to time, so with a bit of luck you will stay dry. In rain gear you stay protected from the rain but of course you also sweat, so you might get wet from the inside… But no offense.

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast with my favorite Norwegian cheese “brun ost”, I packed two crispbread rolls and some fruit for the road. Back in my hotel room, I got ready for the rain and packed everything. Then I set off. The journey first took me through wonderful landscapes to Øvre Gravin. Now I chose the option around Lake Gravin. It was well worth it. I had wonderful views of the landscape. Afterwards, unfortunately, I missed the connection to Espeland. It’s not always that easy in English and then I got the right and left wrong, so I drove to Kyvanndal first. On the map I saw that Ulvik was on the other side of the fjord. I could have taken two free ferries, but decided to go back and take the right route.
and take the right route. After going back and forth a few more times until I realized that I had mixed up left and right… I found the right way. I was also confused by a sign saying no bikes, which I then ignored… it was an old closed road, the new one goes through a tunnel, but no bikes are allowed to ride through it. The battery was empty in between, and it was 6km uphill. So 6km of pushing. Afterwards I was rewarded with wonderful descents. I reached the hotel in Ulvik at around 18:00.

On the way from Voss, I cycled down Serpeninen for the first time in my life, I think. I was still a bit cautious on the first one, but I was a bit braver on the second. And it was actually a lot of fun. As there was also little
traffic and nice drivers were waiting in front of the bends, as I used the oncoming lane on left-hand bends.
Nobody is perfect…

The things that happen… After Florian, my supporter had taken me to the train station, I noticed that my mobile phone was still on the charging cable in my room and not in my backpack. I quickly thought about what I should do now. I have my laptop with me, so I can quickly load everything onto it. The most important documents are in the cloud and on my email account, so they are accessible. If I go back and get my cell phone, I might arrive at the airport too late, so I download my ticket and get on the train. When the conductor arrived, I told him that I had forgotten my cell phone and therefore didn’t have the “digital Bahncard” but had proof via the train website. That was no problem. At the airport, I was also able to print out my boarding pass at the check-in machine and check in my suitcase and board the plane. All good so far. In Bergen, after some searching and asking around, I found the hotel and was able to sleep well after a while.
After breakfast, I took my suitcase to the station and locked it in the locker, and then picked up my pedelec from the bike rental shop. These were opposite directions, so I took the bus to the train station and went to the bike rental shop. Then, of course, I took the pedelec back to the station. The train to Voss or Myrdalen was already there. So I parked my bike and locked it, picked up my suitcase and put it on the train, unlocked my bike and put it on the train too. Everything was fine so far.¹Elephant in a VW Beetle… Ticket loaded onto Lappy and train could depart. In Voss, bike and suitcase off the train, bike and suitcase in the elevator and bike and suitcase to the bike parking garage, bike connected there and suitcase to the hotel and checked in, then caught up on the bike and enjoyed the day.
In the afternoon I took the gondola up to Hanguren and enjoyed the wonderful mountain landscape and panorama.